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“Work out? You mean go outside?”
He smiled at her and she thought he was handsome when he smiled. He didn’t very often.
“This is our workout room.” He opened the door for her and turned on the light.
It smelled sweaty and it was humid. There were mats on the floor and metal bars and circles laying around. She stared at it all not sure what she was looking at. When she looked at him he nodded and stepped inside. He pulled a bar with round things on the end off of a holder.
“These are weights. We lift them to build and tone muscle.”
He lifted a few times and she understood what he was doing. He stepped over to a mat and took a rope off the wall. “This is a jump rope. It burns calories.” He swung the rope over his head and jumped. After a few times he went very fast and she could hear him huff out a breath.
He stopped and grinned. “We do this several times a week to stay in shape.”
“Oh.” She touched some of the weights and the bars and nodded. “I see.” She grinned. “I wasn’t going to do this. I was going to take a walk outside.”
He nodded. “I figured. But stay inside the gates until we know for sure it’s safe. Okay? I don’t want Aidyn mad at me if you get hurt.”
“I will. Thank you.”
She strode out the door and through the garage door and looked up at the sunshine. It was warm again today. It was unusually warm for January. She moved toward the picnic table and sat on it like Aidyn did. She stared at the mountain for a long time. She didn’t miss it. She wondered how the people were, but if this whole group of people here promised to keep her safe if she went up there, she still wouldn’t go. It had felt like a prison for the last few years. She’d dreamed of so much more but didn’t know what that more was. Then she met Aidyn. He was her more. And, now it seemed like there was even more than she’d thought, and she struggled in her mind to know what to do and how to do it.
She looked down at her fingernails painted bright red. Her toes matched. Shianne had insisted on giving her a manicure and a pedicure last night, then made her mom do the same thing. Her nails had never looked prettier. She didn’t know ladies painted their fingernails and toenails. She grinned as she saw them sparkle in the sunlight.
ChapterForty-Five
Aidyn entered the house and wandered around looking for everyone. It was quiet, which was unusual. He ambled to the bedroom and found Elena sitting in the armchair reading on Lara’s tablet.
“Hey. What are you reading?”
“Herbs can grow under a thing called artificial light. They set up lights and fixtures and grow that way. But they don’t taste the same as having natural sunshine. That’s better. I think soil matters too. But it doesn’t say that in here.”
He laughed. “You’re so damned cute.”
She cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brows. “Why?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, you just are.”
He sat at the foot of the bed and looked at her. Her legs tucked under her, her cute little painted toes, stuck out from under her. Her pretty fingers as they held the tablet. Her hair shined. She was stunning and he felt like the luckiest man on earth.
“Can I take you out and show you something?”
“Sure. Henry showed me your workout room. It smells in there.”
He laughed. “It does smell. That’s because we’re always sweating in there. Tate’s having a big fan installed next week.”
“What is a fan and what will that do?”
He took her hand and pulled her to the garage while explaining a fan and its purpose. “Wait, you’ll need shoes.”
She ran back to the bedroom, her hair bouncing as she did. When she came back out, he admired her all over again.
He held his hand out to her and she smiled and clasped his hand. His heart thumped in his chest but it was a happy thump.
He helped her in his truck and moved them out of the HOG grounds and down the road.
“Where are we going?”
“Ah, well, I have something to show you. And it’s very important.”
